The art of storytelling

The art of storytelling

A World full of Stories

Voletarium is part of a much larger storyline that is linked with existing and coming attractions at Europa-Park. Clues and “Easter Eggs” (secret objects) will be hidden in the attraction and across other attractions. So keep your eyes open!

The First Flight Theory

The Adventure Club of Europe commissioned Professor Andrej Nikolajew to prove definitively whether or not the reclusive Eulenstein brothers in 1825 had already carried out the first manned flight.

Did they really fly before the Wright brothers?

The first flight theory Episode 1

The first flight theory Episode 2

The first flight theory Episode 3

The first flight theory Episode 4

The first flight theory Episode 5

The story comes to life

With the concept of the project V locked down, the story settled on two brothers who were both driven,
in their respected fields, to make the dream of flying come true.

With the story in place, detailed renderings were designed to bring Voletarium to life.

A lot of planning goes into building a unique and visionary attraction. Everything is
designed, every detail important.

Artist’s mood drawings capture the magic and the mystery of the institute’s attic.

The institute, so the story goes, was once the working space of the two brothers and is now open to the public. Part museum, part attraction the institute invites every visitor to experience the magic of flight.

The brothers were a combination of previously developed characters.

They were united in their goal, yet had very different backgrounds.

New characters

New characters were developed who could be part of Project V.

The Owl

A mechanical owl was designed but later abandoned for a new and more original creature.

The Trapeze Artist

One was a French trapeze artist whose expertise in acrobatics and flying circus acts made her a perfect test pilot.

The Ornithologist

Another character, loosely inspired by Konrad Lorenz, was a crazy ornithologist (someone who studies birds) who actually lived like a bird A less “crazy” version of this character was later used.

The Watchmaker

A character that would later also be used was a brilliant clockmaker who engineered the most unique flying machines.

“While researching the history of aviation we came across a slew of eccentric pioneers and inventors. One of them, Lagari Hasan Çelebi, supposedly launched himself in the air with a self-made rocket filled with gunpowder. He proclaimed to his Sultan at the time, the year was 1633, that he will go and meet God. When his rocket took off and landed in the nearby sea, Lagari swam ashore, and joked “O my Sultan! God sends his regards to you!””

First designs

First concept sketches of the interior of the institute were rendered.
We wanted to create a warm and aristocratic feel for some of the rooms.

Scholarship was an important part of the Project V institute, hence a library study was designed.

First layouts for the elaborate queue line were designed to map out which parts of the Project V story could be told.

Designs of the mysterious flying machine were sketched, which also serve as the attractions show vehicle.

Dreaming up a story

One of the first story concepts we developed centred around seven wise old men and women who once pioneered a mysterious flying machine. The stork was to be their symbol. This idea was abandoned because we felt that seven new characters would be too many to introduce in the queue line.

The theme of flying remained and we still liked the idea that someone had once engineered a mysterious flying machine.
The story called for a place where the dream of flying was to become reality.

Initially the attraction was called “Flying Over Europe”, now the title of the first film.
We decided not to limit the attraction to just one film or theme so that other films could be shown in the future.
Therefore a broader concept and story were needed.

Voletarium

For Project V we created a fictional institution, a place where hundreds of years ago the most genius and bizarre aircrafts were invented. Voletarium, the true name of the institution was announced with the start of the season 2017.

“To assure that the real name and the story of project V is kept a secret until the opening the project is only referred to as Project V. Crew jackets for the production team show the Project V logo on the back.”

The dream of flying

For centuries man has dreamed of flying and many attempts have been made by
fearless engineers and aviation pioneers to make this dream a reality.

As we were looking for a story for the Euro-pa-Park flying theater we researched man’s dream of flying - for that is exactly what the attraction fulfils.

We came across realistic and outrageous flying machines and began to wonder who would dream up such machines?

It quickly became apparent to us that not only the fascinating history of aviation, but also the people behind the first flying machines would make up our story.

Since the story was to be set in Germany, for the attraction was located in the German section of the park, we looked at historical figures and their contributions to aviation.

We also looked at famous German institutions such as the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
for historic reference.

A statue of Goethe and Schiller became a key inspiration for the fictional main characters. The story called for two highly educated brothers who could achieve greatness and were to be immortalised in a similar statue.

We also researched potential animal side-kicks and found the mechanical owl from the original “Clash of the Titans” film very inspiring.

Uniforms

Custom uniforms and costumes are designed for every attraction and hotel staff at Europa-Park.
They not only help visitors identify staff more easily, but also support the theme of each attraction.

Great detail goes into designing the uniforms to make them part of the story.
All uniforms at Europa-Park are individually crafted at the park’s own tailor shop.
Around 1000 uniforms are in use daily.
The “winged V” is commonly used throughout project V in tiles, windows, emblems and crests.

Final designs

Final design renderings of various rooms and studies in the institute.

Attention to detail is mandatory to immersive storytelling and making the story of the two brothers believable.
The queue line of project V is just as amazing as the main attraction.
It took countless hours of revisions and corrections until every room was perfect.